Will This Monster Movie Devour the World? : Movies: ‘Jurassic Park’ aims to become the biggest-grossing motion picture of all time worldwide. It opens in major overseas markets this weekend.

Dino-Mania is sweeping the globe.

Even before its first major overseas openings this weekend in Britain and Japan, Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” has already penetrated the culture and social fabric of those countries.

In Britain--where it opens today following Thursday’s Royal Premiere--a recent cartoon in the London Sunday Times shows a caricature of Prime Minister John Major’s head on the body of a dinosaur with the caption reading: “Majorassic Park.” Another cartoon, in the Daily Mail, features the face of Margaret Thatcher on a dinosaur. Two rival newspapers in London are running “Bingo Sauras” contests.

In Tokyo, a “Dino Park” is being set up with dozens of life-size dinosaur replicas, and numerous international licensees are touting the “Jurassic Park” logo on everything from trading cards, bed linen and pajamas to men’s boxer shorts and computer knitted socks. Because of the pre-release craze in Japan, “Jurassic” will begin its first screenings at 7 a.m. Saturday, compared to the usual 10 a.m. showings, thus allowing for six shows a day rather than the typical four or five.

Since its June 11 release in the United States and Canada, the dinosaur adventure epic has sold more than $240-million worth of tickets and is widely believed to be on its way to be the biggest-grossing movie of all time on a worldwide basis.

“Clearly, the level of success in the United States has generated a kind of ‘Jurassic’ fever on a global basis,” says Michael Williams-Jones, head of London-based United International Pictures, the foreign theatrical and pay TV distribution arm of Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures and MGM/UA. Smith contends that the phenomenon is a combination of “Jurassic” being “total entertainment that has touched every nerve” and being based on scientific fact.

“The ‘Jurassic Park’ concept has generated debates about genetic engineering and moral issues. All of these issues have platformed the movie to be a very, very unique event in the long history of our business,” said Williams-Jones, noting that in his 25 years in the business--”and I was there for ‘E.T.’ and ‘Jaws’ “--he’s never experienced anything like this. “This is unique.”

Of the 275 million people living in North America, approximately 50 million have already seen “Jurassic Park.” There’s no way to predict how many of the rest of the world’s 5 billion inhabitants will go to see the movie, but by the time the movie has had its run in theaters and plays through its other markets--pay TV, home video and free TV--it is estimated that “Jurassic Park” will have been seen by more than 2 billion people worldwide.

“I’ve always believed that whatever the film would do domestically, it would do at least 10% better foreign,” said Tom Pollock, chairman of the MCA Motion Picture Group/Universal Pictures. The goal, says Pollock, is to beat worldwide record-holder “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” the 1982 Spielberg film that garnered more than $640 million globally in its initial release. “Jurassic Park” is not expected to beat out “E.T.’s” original domestic gross of $357 million ($399 million after reissues), but it has a good shot at surpassing “E.T.’s” initial foreign take of $286 million.

The price audiences will pay to see the movie varies from country to country. In Japan, an adult ticket costs anywhere from $20 to $25 depending on the time of day. Comparatively, in China, the price of admission is 10 or 15 cents and in Latin America around 40 to 50 cents. In North America, the average ticket price is $5.

During its theatrical life overseas--which began in mid-June with initial openings in five Latin American countries and will end with its debut in Greece in late October--”Jurassic” will have been released in 3,400 prints, the widest release ever for a motion picture internationally, according to Williams-Jones. Last year’s Arnold Schwarzenegger sequel “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” held the previous record. A typical wide foreign release for a major motion picture is around 2,500, and that’s considered “a very big release,” said Williams-Jones.

Debuting on June 25 in Brazil, the film has grossed $6.1 million in 20 days--the biggest opening in the country’s history--and has since opened in Argentina ($2 million, two weeks), Colombia ($1.1 million, 13 days), Chile ($264,000, one week) and Uruguay ($152,000, 13 days).

“Each one of those is an all-time world record for the opening of a movie,” said Williams-Jones, adding that a number of in-house theater records were also set.

Today, the movie enters its second phase of overseas release in Britain and Mexico, followed by Saturday’s highly anticipated debut in Japan with 260 prints--the biggest motion picture release in Japanese history, according to Williams-Jones.

The UIP chief says the typical wide release in Japan for a major American motion picture is between 125-140 prints. Japan only has 1,800 theaters, of which approximately half show English-language movies, compared to 23,000 screens in the United States.

As of Wednesday night, “Jurassic” had advance ticket sales of $1.8 million in the United Kingdom and last night had paid previews in 400 theaters.

Advance ticket sales in Japan (countrywide) are expected to generate $3.5 million to $4 million, of which $1.8 million has already been collected for 30 theaters in the nine key cities. Though advance sales are not totally uncommon for big pictures, the “Jurassic” numbers are “absolutely staggering,” said Williams-Jones. Additionally, UIP collected a “record-setting” $1.4 million in one-night-only, all night, paid pre-release previews of “Jurassic” in 151 cities (on 209 screens) across Japan one week prior to the film’s opening. Williams-Jones said all the blockbuster movies in Japan have paid previews--all-night shows prior to their release.

Pollock predicts that “Jurassic” will be nothing less than a “phenomenon” in Japan, where Spielberg “is a true star--as big as any actor.” An early Japanese movie poster features a photo of Spielberg’s face along with the now-familiar dinosaur logo.

From a country that once brought you the “Godzilla” movie phenomenon, Japan is a country where the subject of dinosaurs is an “enormous part of Japanese mythology,” Pollock said. This, coupled with “the fascination in Japan with technology,” are reasons why he believes the film will generate enormous repeat business.

Beginning in early September, “Jurassic” will begin to roll out across all of Europe and Australia, which begins the film’s third and final phase of its international release. On Sept. 2, the movie opens in Australia and Germany; Sweden, Sept. 3; Italy, Sept. 17; Netherlands, Sept. 30; Spain, Oct. 8; France, Oct. 20, and finally in Greece, Oct. 29.

Similar to the tremendous pre-release promotional bonanza “Jurassic” received in the United States, the movie’s release abroad is bolstered by merchandising tie-ins and a huge marketing campaign. While both Williams-Jones and Hy Smith, UIP’s senior vice president of international marketing, refused to disclose figures, knowledgeable sources estimate that more than $25 million is being spent to market the picture abroad--the biggest expenditure in UIP’s history.

Gerry Lewis, an independent marketing consultant hired to work on “Jurassic” with UIP in London, said that to date “the estimated value of the extensive promotional activity related to the movie’s international release is in excess of $30 million.” That means UIP receives free TV advertising, giveaways and promotional tie-ins from such major advertisers as McDonald’s and Ford Motor Co.

Wheatabix, a popular breakfast cereal in Britain, is offering an on-pack promotion. In Korea, Pizza Hut is doing a place-mat promotion and a convenience store chain called Family Mart is running a scratch and win game linked to the purchase of Coke. UIP has a Pepsi tie-in in Scandinavia with Shell gas stations and in Japan, UIP cut a deal with Cosmo Oil to sell merchandise in its 7,000 gas stations. The petrol company also paid for 200 TV spots as did Nissin Foods in Japan and the Saison Group. MCA’s parent company, Japanese electronics giant Matsushita, also lent major advertising support.

Amblin marketing consultant Marvin Levy, along with marketing vice president Brad Globe, said the entire campaign and release pattern “from day one was envisioned on a global basis for obvious reasons.” One of those being the film has a built-in hook since dinosaurs are already an international phenomenon. As Pollock noted, “You’re not dealing with a myth indigenous to just America--but a worldwide cultural mythology.”

Very early on, Smith said that UIP realized the potential of the film. In a series of meetings between UIP and Universal, he said, “we laid out a long-term strategy probably a year to 15 months before we ever saw a piece of film because in certain territories like Japan you have to book playdates sometimes a year and a half in advance.”

It was decided that the worldwide campaign for “Jurassic” would all be built around the highly recognizable logo designed by Spielberg and his Amblin team--a dinosaur in a circle, which is seen on every piece of merchandise tied to the movie. It was derived from the dinosaur pictured on the book jacket of the Michael Crichton bestseller on which the movie is based. The logo, said Smith, “works everywhere--it’s an absolutely perfect quick-read on what the movie is about.”

It’s Pollock’s contention that the “Jurassic” craze is tied to the fact that “events begin to feed on themselves. It has become an American cultural event and of enormous interest all over the world like our music, clothes and fads. What happens here in America is extensively examined by the media of every country of the world.”

And Spielberg? He said simply: “I feel lucky that ‘Jurassic Park’ came to me with all its inherent challenges and even happier that audiences everywhere are digging dinosaurs maybe more than ever before.”